Dragon and Phoenix
by Coffeetailor
Summary: Nearly five years after the war, Wufei goes on leave and never returns. A year later, someone finds him, one nobody expected to see alive, much less in the mountains of China. Wufei least of all. Treize learns that living with dragons could be more literal than he ever expected, & Wufei learns that protecting the remnants of his clan can be so much more complicated. 13x5, mpreg.
1. Long Mountain

A/N: I told myself that I wouldn't start posting it until the first draft was completely finished, but lucky for you, my lovely readers, I decided to start posting as I rewrite for the motivation to actually do so. Gundam Wing, however dear it is to my heart, doesn't belong to me. I merely play with its characters and make them properly hate me for what I put them through. So without further ado, please enjoy this first chapter and those that come after.

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Dragon and Phoenix  
Chapter One  
Long Mountain

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To be perfectly honest and terribly plain, Treize wasn't sure what had hit him. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. The Gundam Nataku had hit him, and to devastating effect. Which meant that he _should_ have been dead, his last memory being closing his eyes as he watched 05's Dragon Fang arm coming for him as if in slow motion, bringing death to his willing arms.

But unless this was some strange afterlife, and the little jolts of pain Treize felt as he shifted argued that it wasn't, he'd survived. Somehow. And for all his knowledge and experience in warfare and piloting and crash statistics, he had no idea how. Landing hadn't been in his plans.

Treize slowly pushed himself to his feet, sucking air through clenched teeth as his injuries clearly declared themselves in protest to the movement. He got upright only through sheer stubbornness, legs trembling as they fought to keep him that way long enough to take proper stock of his surroundings and at least figure out where he'd landed.

He was on Earth, that was immediately obvious. The old growth trees clinging to a sloping mountain ground could exist nowhere else. Even if any of the remaining colonies were old enough to play host to such plants, they wouldn't be able to spare the space for a forest like this, reaching up towards the heavens and blocking all but a few stars from view. Which was a pity on its own. The sky could have given him a hint had it been more visible. And unfortunately, for all of his love of roses, Treize was no botanist to be able to look at the plants around him and tell instantly where in the world they all intersected. No, there would be no hints while he stood there.

The general sighed and ran a hand down his face, idly noting a line of blood soaking through his glove from a particularly tender spot near his hairline. That explained the pain, not quite right to just be the ache of a migraine. Well, not _just_ a migraine. It came as no surprise though. Even if his survival had been a miracle, surviving completely unscathed from a Gundam fight was simply impossible. And as it was, he felt like one giant ache.

The bruising in his ribs was a given, but careful pressure on each surprised him with the fact that none of them felt _broken_. And neither did any of his other bones. But he hadn't escaped the shrapnel, not entirely. Little pieces had gone right through many parts of his uniform, catching on torn cloth even as he searched them out.

Treize carefully tugged his gloves off, just as gingerly removing his ascot and feeling along his exposed neck until he could get a hold on the tiny shard of wreckage that'd lodged in soft skin, a scant inch from hitting his carotid artery. He'd been lucky in every step of this, he knew. He drew a slow breath and pulled on it until it started to come free, hand pressing over the wound immediately to stop any more bleeding. Passing out from more blood loss at this stage would likely be fatal. Treize had been planning to die today, it was true, but in battle. Not here.

Biting the soft cloth of his ascot, he used his teeth to tear it into two strips to wrap snugly around his throat, tucking the ends carefully so they'd stay in place. He could feel other pieces of shrapnel lodged in his skin, but they would have to wait. He needed to find civilization, or a safe place to camp failing that. And a stream so he could wash out the wounds.

Without anything to go off of, Treize decided on a direction and started walking. If he kept going in a straight line, he'd find something, whether it was a road or the edge of a cliff. Either way, he could follow it.

Progress was slow as Treize carefully judged each step for objects or holes that could be in his path and where there were trees and branches he could use to help support himself. But he refused to just sit because of something as minor and ignorable as pain. He kept his ears tuned to the woods around him for predators drawn to the scent of blood, putting every sense to work to keep him alive.

That attention was how he noticed the rustle of leaves that _couldn't_ be accounted for as wind. He wasn't alone. Treize stopped, turning slowly as he searched the shadows. _Where are you..?_

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise before he heard the growl. And one of those deep, dark shadows he'd dismissed... moved. Fast.

Barely taking time to register the size of the creature or the way that moonlight reflected off of dark scales, Treize threw aside his cautious steps and _ran._ He didn't look back, barely able to hear the heavy footsteps pounding behind him as it gave chase over the sudden pounding of his own heart.

The general hissed as he stumbled into a thick briar bush, thorns catching the thick wool of his uniform and holding him fast. The more he struggled, the more it caught hold of him. And his pursuer sped closer with every second. Treize twisted his head around, his eyes going wide as he at last got a glance at what had been chasing him, far too late.

The long, sinuous form of a Chinese dragon couldn't be mistaken for anything else, even when only glimpsed in patches of light. It was black, the size of a small horse, and coming for him. Treize gritted his teeth as it leapt, mentally preparing himself for a bloody, messy end.

It never came.

At the last second, a whistle rang out in the night and the dragon (how strange to think he'd escaped one in name to be chased by another in flesh) twisted to miss him, kicking off of a tree trunk to jump the other way and vanish back into the shadows.

Heart racing, he looked around for the source of the life-saving whistle. It didn't sound like an animal, or a mechanical whistle. That voice had been _human._

He began to slowly pry his uniform from the thorns, grimacing as they raked over his hands and tore at his skin further. But he was alive. For now.

Treize was just finishing freeing himself when someone walked into view, impossible to miss even in the darkness, that same dragon following close behind in a slouch that screamed _pout_ even in a mythological animal's body. Black hair pulled back into a loose tail, a white Chinese robe that seemed to glow in the moonlight, and his face... Wufei?

No. The man in front of him was too old, even if the annoyed expression aimed at him was eerily similar to the young pilot's. The same dark eyes, the slant of his jaw similar to what Treize imagined 05's would have matured into once he lost his baby fat. A distant relative perhaps, one who had never left for the stars.

Not that his rescuer looked any more pleased to see him than his dragon had ever been, pointing firmly to the woods behind them with a clear word of command before turning towards Treize again and stalking towards him with all the temper and grace of an enraged panther. The black beast didn't move though, watching both humans curiously, more kitten than threat. The sudden change was startling. But not as much as the anger with which his rescuer approached.

"What are you doing here?" the man growled, glaring furiously. Perhaps mother bear was just as appropriate of a metaphor for him as panther, with the way he moved between Treize and the dragon. "You're trespassing where you are _not_ welcome."

"I apologize," Treize said, dipping his head in a shallow bow. He was far from being a humble man, but neither was he a fool. Just by being here, he'd upset this stranger, and he still needed his aid. "I didn't intend to crash land here. If I can get medical assistance, I'll depart as soon as possible."

"This mountain is a no fly zone," the other snapped. He narrowed his eyes and stepped closer, squinting at Treize's face. What he saw made him freeze dead in his tracks, face growing pale. "Impossible..."

The Wufei look-alike stumbled back, denial written all over his face, and Treize reached out to catch him before he could fall. His rescuer hitting his head would not improve the situation, not when he had been the one able to control the dragon.

"No!" the young man shouted, flinching back from Treize's outstretched hand. He grabbed the dragon by the fur that grew up around its back, pulling it back with him. "Don't touch me!"

The general withdrew his hand, holding both up to show that he intended no harm. "I won't hurt you. Either of you," he said, keeping his words even as he tried to figure out what had set the other off. "I'm not quite sure how I offended you, but it was unintentional. You have my apologies. Can you tell me how to get to the road?"

"What does a dead man need with directions? I don't need you haunting me here, bastard!"

Treize stopped, that familiar insult striking a memory. It couldn't be. Yes, they looked alike, but 05 had only just turned fifteen when they faced each other in battle. The young man in front of him was no teenager. Yet...

"Don't just stand there staring," he snapped, glaring at Treize with such familiar passion. "Answer me dammit! Why are you here?!"

Slowly, Treize smiled, adrenaline starting to drop as an odd calm took him over. How fitting, for the young man to protect a dragon. "Chang Wufei. I didn't intend this to be part of our battlefield. Forgive me for this carelessness."

And darkness closed in. He didn't even feel himself hit the ground.


	2. Questions Unanswered

A/N: You guys rock for the reviews I've received so far, and the hundred hits! It reminds me of why I post fanfiction in the first place. So here is chapter two for you. Please enjoy and drop a review if you like what you read!

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Dragon and Phoenix  
Chapter Two  
Unanswered Questions

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Wufei didn't move as the ghost collapsed at his feet, his eyes wide and staring in shock. At least, he wanted to believe the man was a ghost. But ghosts didn't faint, did they? His brain spun trying to come up with another explanation for how Khushrenada could be here, and _why_ , but nothing came to him. And he likely would have _kept_ staring if little Cho hadn't nudged him in the back of his legs, peering up at Wufei inquisitively. She didn't need to be old enough to send for him to understand her question. Who was the stranger?

"No one you need to worry about, Cho," Wufei said firmly, stroking a hand over her snout. He could taste the lie on his tongue even as he said it. Treize Khushrenada was plenty to worry about, ghost or otherwise. "Go back to the compound and stay there. I don't want to see you in the woods tonight. There are outsiders in the forest. It's not safe."

A defiant glint entered her eyes and he grabbed hold of her fur again, fixing the young dragon with a look.

"Now," Wufei said with a growl. "Or I'll tell your mother you were out here alone after dark."

His threat seemed to do the trick this time because her eyes flew wide and she twisted out of his grasp to dash away into the bushes. In the direction of the compound, thank gods. Which just left Wufei alone with the problem passed out on the forest floor.

The wind shifted and his nostrils flared. Passed out and _bleeding_.

Wufei was torn. Treize shouldn't have alive. He'd killed the man himself, had visited his grave. Meaning there had been a body or at least enough of one to bury. While he hadn't attended the funeral, he knew there'd been one. Treize being there was a _mistake_. And one that would be so _easy_ to correct…

Studying the unmoving form, Wufei's eyes narrowed and he bent down, reaching for him. His fingers curled in the cloth at Treize throat and pulled.

"Bastard," Wufei whispered under his breath, seeing the wound. He carefully rewrapped it before hoisting the man up off of the ground. "Making me help you, of all people."

Their difference of height made carrying him difficult, along with the fact that Treize weighed a good deal more than he did. Wufei struggled to maneuver the unconscious man through the thick undergrowth. He grimaced as the scent of blood grew stronger. The bleeding was getting worse. This wasn't going to work.

"I'm only doing this because I won't get my answers if you die on me," Wufei told the unconscious general, laying him back down on the ground again.

Wufei had been about to remove his over-robe to wrap Treize for easier carrying when there was a rustle in the trees above them. Wufei looked up with a grown, a scolding on his tongue, when a man stepped from the night instead of the young dragon he'd suspected, holding a small flashlight. Meaning that keeping Khushrenada's presence here a secret was no longer possible. Damn.

"Chen. Didn't Cho go to you?" Wufei asked, surprised to see the man lack of a tail. "I sent her back to the compound."

"She's with my wife." Chen turned the flashlight's beam to the OZ officer on the ground, a sucked-in breath of air giving away his surprise. "Master Wufei, is that- "

"Yes," Wufei interrupted before Khushrenada's name could be uttered. If Chen was out here, who knew who else might be near enough to listen in. He wanted time to prepare before word got out and the gossip mill took hold of the news. "I don't want you to tell anyone about this, not yet. You may discuss it with your wife, I suspect she already knows, but it goes no further. Do you understand?"

He didn't need to see the older man's face particularly clearly to feel the skepticism radiating from him. "Are you sure that's wise Wufei?"

"No," the former pilot admitted, ignoring the lapse of formality in the face of the situation. "But it's what I have to do. I need answers from him, and I won't get them if someone panics and bites him in half."

The older man snorted, clearly not taking Wufei's claim seriously. Traitor. But Chen bent down and lifted the unconscious general into his arms. Taller and broader, Chen had an easier time supporting Khushrenada's weight, as much as he hated to admit it.

"Where do you want him taken?" Chen asked, one eyebrow raised. Wufei wanted to swat him.

Instead, he turned away to lead him down the nearly invisible path towards the compound. "My rooms. He'll be smelled out in an instant anywhere else. Bastard doesn't have the courtesy not to bleed all over when trespassing where he's not wanted."

A cough from behind him told Wufei all he needed to know about what Chen thought about what Chen thought about _that_ comment. Chen had been easier to live with then he'd been too in awe over Wufei being _that_ Chang to talk to him.

Thankfully, his conscious companion said no more as he followed Wufei, the pair of them moving silently through the trees until the lights of the compound walls became visible. And no matter who followed after him, and whose blood he could still smell, the sight brought a small smile to Wufei's lips.

When the emperor had banished his clan, the main families had left together for space, populating the first colony launched into orbit. But what wasn't known, what even Wufei had not known for years, was that some had been _missed_. Minor branches under married names, stray kin banished by previous generations, distant cousins like Chen who'd left the colony to inhabit other ones in the L5 cluster. They were few in number, but they were _clan_.

And they'd gathered back together here, in the ancestral keep of the Long family, home of the dragon clan. Together they'd called Wufei to them to take his position as head of the clan.

One quick call to Quatre to help cover his tracks and he'd been gone by nightfall without a trace.

A soft groan behind him drew Wufei's ears and he clanked back as Treize began to open his eyes. "Where...?"

"Don't' speak," Wufei said, stopping to open a hidden door in the compound wall. It was no secret anymore, not to anyone living here, but it was unused. No one would be lingering around in the room beyond, simply because it and its neighbors belonged only to Wufei. "We're almost there."

"Do you want me to stay and help, Master Wufei?" Chen asked, taking up that formality again now that they had an audience.

Wufei shook his head, waiting for the two men to pass through the door and into his unused back room before shutting it behind them so it wouldn't catch attention. "Just put him on the bed. I'll handle him."

"I can handle my own care," Treize said with a hiss as he tried to extract himself from Chen's hold, apparently determined to stand on his own. "All I need is some supplies, then I'll be out of your way. Unless you plan to fight me again, dragon."

"You're not leaving," Wufei said, shooting his older cousin a look that threatened lots of pain if he commented on the bastard's nickname for him. Treize had no way of knowing. "And I don't want you passing out on me again yet."

"Are you planning to stop me, Wufei?" Treize asked, narrowing his eyes at the younger man.

Wufei stationed himself between the other two men and the main door as Chen set the general down on his feet, hovering nearby in case he fell. Treize could be as stubborn as he wanted, but no matter what, Wufei was not going to let him threaten his clan. "I will stop you by any means necessary. We work hard to keep this compound hidden. You will _not_ endanger that."

He didn't take his eyes off of the general as Chen slipped out of the room quietly, closing the door behind himself with a click of the lock. Good. They wouldn't be interrupted.

Treize studied him quietly, a frown on his lips. He could only imagine what was going on in the older man's mind. But knowing Treize, he was plotting. He was always plotting.

"Understood," Treize said calmly, taking a seat down on the bed. "While I heal, I will remain here. If you will care to explain how you came into the company of a dragon."

Wufei didn't allow his jaw to so much as clench. "A dragon? You must have been hallucinating," he said flatly. It didn't matter if he sounded convincing. Treize would believe him or he wouldn't. "Family legends aside, I wouldn't expect someone like you to believe in fairy tales."

"Seeing tends to make one a believer." Treize took his eyes off of Wufei to look around, gaze pausing at the shelves piled high with books. "Fascinating. It seems I've misjudged you, 05."

"I haven't used that name in years," Wufei said with a frown. He knew what Treize was seeing, and he regretted letting Khushrenada be brought into his bedroom. His interests, hobbies, history, all contained in a single room for the general to see. Wufei frowned, not liking it at all. "Why are you here, Khushrenada? I don't believe your nonsense crash landing story. It's too much of a coincidence."

"Wufei then. And you will simply have to learn to believe it. As farfetched as it sounds, I did not lie to you." Treize looked at him again, the former pilot _feeling_ the visual examination as he was studied. "But I have a question of my own. You were a fifteen-year-old boy when we met in battle. What year is it now?"


End file.
